Firefighters battle wildfires in California

Firefighters struggle to extinguish fires that have caused California
residents to evacuate their homes

11:20AM BST 15 May 2014

A hillside brush fire blackened dozens of acres in the northern San Diego County town of San Marcos on Wednesday, sending huge columns of smoke into the sky, prompting evacuations in surrounding residential areas and at the nearby college campus of California State San Marcos.

The San Marcos fire is one of nine now burning in the San Diego area, although some have been brought under control.

The fires flared as California entered the height of wildfire season in the midst of one of the state's worst droughts on record, setting the stage for what fire officials fear could be a particularly intense and dangerous year.